


Patchwork

by CyberSearcher



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Implied Malnourishment, Implied Relationships, Kai angst, Kai is Angry, M/M, Minor Injuries, Pining, and also kinda gay, cole is Soft, loads of subtext & shameless headcannons here, v subtle but its there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:20:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25319695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyberSearcher/pseuds/CyberSearcher
Summary: After saving his sister, Kai returns to the monastery and sees just how close everyone is. Cole can't help but notice how he acts - and the dangerous habits he has - and tries to help. It's a good and bad thing both of them are so stubborn.
Relationships: Cole/Kai (Ninjago)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 128





	Patchwork

**Author's Note:**

> So, Oppositeshipping invited Lava into my apartment and now they're both living rent free. 
> 
> _good god what even is that sentence. makes No Sense to anyone outside this fandom. just have some fluff lmao._

Kai pet the snout of his dragon, little flames curling around his snout and between his fangs. The heat under his skin felt comfortable and familiar. If he closed his eyes, Kai could almost imagine himself standing in front of the forge and hear the deep, huffing bellows. 

“Hey,” Cole set a hand on his shoulder, “you coming up? Zane’s making a hot pot to celebrate us not dying to Garmadon. Or do you want me to save you a bowl?” 

The red ninja felt his stomach give a weak clench at the prospect of food, something he’d learned to ignore. Kai shrugged the taller boy's hand off. “Sure, yea.”

Cole still waited for him by the entrance to their makeshift dens for their dragons and the two began their climb up the mountain. At some point, Kai started jogging up the steps. Cole started taking them two at a time. In response, the shorter teen broke off from the staircase and began climbing up the cliff face.

The other teen looked startled for a moment as Kai looked down from his perch. “You’re really gonna challenge the master of earth?” 

“Bring it, boulders!” Kai shouted. 

He didn’t stop to look over his shoulders, but the smaller teel could tell that Cole was catching up. Gritting his teeth, Kai took longer jumps between hand holds and risked the shakier ledges.

Grabbing the next ledge, he just realized that this rock was looser than he’d expected and felt his hand slip. Then his left foot slipped from it’s crevasse and Kai was soon dangling from only one hand and foot. 

“Shit, hold on!” Cole shouted under him. “Don’t move! I’m coming!”

Fear and adrenaline rushed hot through his veins. Kai bit the inside of his cheek and dug his nails into the stone. Swinging his dangling arm, the teen pushed himself up and grabbed an outstretched root with both hands. 

Kicking up against the cliff wall, Kai managed to claw his fingers onto the flat mountaintop and dragged his elbows up. Panting hard, he rolled onto his back and let his head thump against the ground. 

“Dude, I said I was coming.” He turned his head to see Cole crouched overhead. “Are you okay? That must’ve hurt.”

“No shit,” Kai pushed himself up, only just giving Cole enough time to move before he headbut him, “but I’m alive anyways. And I won.”

Cole shook his head. “I don’t care about that, you nearly fell off.”

“But I didn’t.” 

Kai pushed past Cole and into the Monastery. Already, he could hear the others cheering. Jay was saying something stupid and he heard Nya give a small laugh. Peeking his head into the halls, he saw Zane carry a platter stacked with raw meats and vegetables. 

The white ninja had to jerk it away from Jay when he tried to grab a handful. “Please, can you use your chopstick at least?” 

“I don’t wanna drop it again!” He protested, tapping them on the table, “why don’t you have any forks here?”

“Patience is a virtue.” Sensei Wu said behind a cup. Kai thought he saw the old man smirk. 

“Oh come on! Don’t tell me you guys are already halfway done!” Cole stepped past the red ninja and began ladling the soup into one of the empty bowls. 

“We had to finish before you got here and devoured everything.” Jay laughed, slapping his shoulder. 

“Cole is must too considerate to do so,” Zane added, “I do not recall a situation where he did so.”

The blue ninja gave a dramatic gasp. “Are we forgetting my poor, innocent jello cup?” 

“Was that not Coles?” He asked. 

“I put my name on it!” 

“Really?” Cole tapped his chin with his spoon. “Didn’t see ‘megaphone’ on it.”

Everyone laughed again, even Jay after he shot the darker teen another exaggerated frown. Nya had started telling another story about the time Kai had somehow set a pot of rice on fire. All the while he stood by the doorframe, picking at his fingernails. 

“At least we’re both terrible at cooking.” Cole said, turning to look over his shoulder. “Maybe we should both take lessons from Frosty, think that's a good idea?” 

He caught the edge of red cloth as Kai began walking back towards the training grounds. The conversation had turned to Zane listing off simple recipes he could teach them. Cole hid a worried expression and quickly finished the last of his bowl. 

“I trust that you will be able to use the oven.” Zane mused. “However I am uncertain of Kai.”

“Watch him light his hair on fire,” Jay nugged Nya with a grin, “bet that’d be an improvement. Whaddya think, Cole?”

“Hm, oh. I mean, at least he does something with it.” He shrugged. “I think I forgot something, at least save me some desert. I saw you were baking something.”

“I will attempt to save you a slice.” Zane promised. 

“Sure.” Jay drawled. “Suuuuuuuure.”

Cole rolled his eyes and stepped away from the table. Someone said something funny and this time, he could even hear Sensei Wu give a chuckle. Out in front, he heard the training equipment being turned on and the grunting shouts of someone running the course. 

Kai had a pair of swords in a white knuckle grip and was in the process of cutting the punching bag to ribbons. He spun and ran both blades through the stuffing, sand spraying across his face. The teen shouted, rolling back and hastily whipping the dirt from his eyes. 

Backflipping onto the shifting poles, he leapt across two at a time, swords hoovering at his sides. When he came to the turntable Kai cleaved the head and torso off in two powerful cuts. Kicking the second down, he blocked the spinning blades with his own. Spark flew from the rotating mechanism and Cole worried something would catch fire. 

Kai suddenly stomped on the bottommost sword. It snapped, the broken edge scattering to the ground. He dove down from the turntable just as the bag came swinging around again and the red ninja growled. Whipping himself up into a tornado of pure fire, it engulfed the entire thing and tore it off it’s chains. 

Dirt and sweat clung thick to his skin. Kai panted for only a moment before rushing towards the second turntable and started eviscerating the next set of dummies. It was then he realized that Kai had somehow managed to turn the speed of all the equipment to a far higher level than he could manage. 

Cole marched towards the emergency stop and immediately slammed it off. Kai hadn’t stopped his assault and threw a ripped head to the ground. As the treadmill finally slowed, he stared down at it with shock.

“Don’t tell me you're worn out already!” 

With an angry shout, he threw his swords to the ground, fell into a slump and pulled at his hair. Cole waited for a tense moment before finally approaching Kai. 

“Hey,” he said, “are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” Kai snapped. “Wait, did you shut this off? Asshole.”

The teen hopped to his feet. Cole grabbed his arm before he could shove past him. “Yea, I turned it off. Because at the rate you’re going there’s gonna be no equipment left for us to use in the morning.”

“So what?” Kai tugged. “Jealous you didn’t get a shot to do it yourself?”

“This isn’t about… whatever you think I’m talking about.” 

Cole sighed. Looking down at Kai’s hands, the skin looked painfully red. He could see blisters forming between calluses and some were starting to bleed. The shorter teen pulled at his arm again but Cole didn’t let go.

“Listen, if I’m gonna be stuck living here with you guys, the least you can do is leave me alone,” he grit, “I’ve got training. You can’t stop me.” 

“Dude, destroying everything isn’t training,” Cole said. He forced Kai’s hand up to eye level and realized that one of his nails was also cracked, he guessed it was from the scrabble up the cliff, “this is… I don’t know what but this isn’t healthy. 

Kai flinched, eyes narrowing as he kept trying to jerk away. “I don’t need your pity.”

“That’s not what I said. Would you just listen to me?” Cole repeated. “How are you gonna train if you can’t even throw a punch.”

“Oh yea? Watch me!”

The teen saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and hastily jerked back. Kai was pulled with him but the red ninja didn’t stop. After the next punch, Cole caught his wrist and forced him back against one of the support beams. 

Kai tried to headbut him, but the leader made sure to keep a distance. Switching his grip so he could hold both hands down, Cole spun them around so Kai was pinned between his chest and the wooden poles. The teen still struggled with what little strength he had left. 

“I’m not saying not to train, it’s good to know I’ve got a good sparring partner,” he said firmly, “but you’ve gotta take a god damn break or you’re still gonna get beat up in a real fight. Would you stop squirming!”

Kai growled as Cole forced his cheek against the wood grain, his grip was firm, calloused but not rough. Glaring, he tried to force himself to direct his anger at the teen. His face was calm, with only the first tints of frustration. He bared his teeth and refused to break eye contact. 

Cole’s shadow fell over his face as he lowered his gaze to meet his stare.

The minutes crawled on, both too stubborn to look away first. Kai finally caught his breath and all the tiredness he’d been fighting dropped against his shoulder. His arms went slack and Cole released them, stepping back to let the teen rub at his wrists. Kai squinted when he realized that the black ninja looked oddly bashful.

“Sorry I got kinda physical. But it seems to be the only thing you respond to.” He played with a lock of his hair. 

Kai smirked. “So you’re saying you didn’t enjoy that?”

“I - what?” 

Cole’s face blanked as he struggled to realize what the other had said. Kai’s smirk grew wider and he broke out into a small chuckle. The teen settled on the idea Kai was just teasing him, even if those moments had filled his head with dirty thoughts. 

“I swear to god, if Nya hasn’t saved me a bowl I’m gonna kill her myself.” Kai sighed, stretching his arms over his head. 

The two walked back inside to find Jay and Nya cleaning up.Thankfully, there was a generous amount of soup left. But Cole stopped the red ninja from grabbing a bowl. 

“At least take a shower.” He asked. “I’ll get the first aid kit.”

Cole made sure to leave before Kai could protest, passing into the kitchen to find Zane doing some of the dishes. He offered to help - it felt wrong since he’d already cooked - and made sure to grab the kit from the shelves before he made his way back to their bedrooms. 

Laying it out on his bed, Cole sorted out the gauze and ointments he’d have to use. He glanced to the door, seeing long tendrils of steam curl up from the bathroom. He chucked to himself. 

“Master of Fire, of course.” 

The door clicked open soon after, a towle was wrapped around Kai and another in his hand while he dried out his hair. Cole didn’t expect it to still stick up at odd angles, even without the hair jell. The teen looked surprised that Cole was there. 

“Are you trying to get a peak?” He asked with a low smile.

“You wish,” Cole rolled his eyes, “I just needed to be sure you didn’t boil alive, how hot was that water?”

“It’s not like I got the chance for it before.” Kai shrugged. 

He began pulling on a loose shirt and sweatpants. Cole was about to ask what he meant, until he remembered where Kai and his sister had come from. He didn’t think that a rural village would have running water, at least not to the degree of someone who’d lived in a modern town.

“Oh.” He muttered to himself. “Well, do you want me to leave?”

“Nah, just don’t stare.” 

Cole rolled his eyes and busied himself with cutting strips of gauze. Every few moments though, he’d steal a glance at the other. 

Kai was much thinner than him, almost as thin as Jay. But there was something different about him. Jay he knew had an extremely high metabolism and despite his constant snacking, he just didn’t seem to gain weight. Cole could see the way his skin stretched over his frame, he knew the way bones grew and developed thanks to his doodling. 

Then there were the scars; little cuts on his bicep, and the rough texture of his back. Cole could start to guess what had been the cause of them, but he couldn’t really know, not really. 

His thoughts were cut off as Kai plopped himself on the bed, holding up one hand in a mockingly saint fashion. “So, you gonna give me a pedicure?” 

Cole was about to ask if Kai would let him help. He didn’t give him the satisfaction of letting Kai get a witty response and started applying the ointments. The black ninja had to stop himself from getting a better look at the other midriff, checking to see if he could count ribs or any healthy fat. 

Thankfully, Kai didn’t seem interested in scrutinising him. Cole soon finished wrapping his hands and nudged at his foot when he was done. “C’mon, there’s some good movies we can watch. Just hope you can tolerate Jay’s commentary.” 

Kai gave an amused huff. “Sure, yea.” 

Most of the others had taken over the couch and Cole made sure to get a larger bowl for Kai as he dragged a pillow from the blue ninja down. As the movie dragged on, he watched to be sure Kai finished all the food and offered to get more.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you actually care about me.” He remarked. 

“Of course I’m gonna care.” Cole said plainly. 

Kai looked stunned, so he continued. 

“You’re not just my teammate. Even if we’ve only known each other for a few weeks, I like to think we’re at least friends.” 

The shorter teen lowered his spoon, staring into the bowl with a pinched expression. Cole refrained from asking why he’d think that, knowing Kai wouldn’t give an honest answer with so many people. 

“But Cole is not a hen and he cannot be a mother?” Zane quietly asked Nya.

“God, now all I can see is Cole in a chicken hat!” Jay exclaimed. 

He started making a series of loud, squawking sounds that Nya quickly joined. Cole initially just sighed, until Kai joined in. Soon everyone but him and Zane were making clucking sounds that quickly devolved into breathless laughter. Their Sensei didn’t even ask why half his students were rolling on the floor with tears in their eyes. 

Cole leaned back, admiring how happy Kai was. He could see he had a small dimple on his left cheek that grew more prominent with his smiles. His hair was tossed around his head and stuck up in wispy tufts. The smaller teen tried to style it with a bare hand as he sat up, but it did pretty much nothing.

Kai caught his eye, glanced at the floor, then mouthed a small “Thank you.”


End file.
